Measure A.R.T., or average reading time
Writers measure copy in words, inches or pages. Readers use a different measure: time.
So instead of using writer-centric measures, think like your reader.… Read the full article
Writing workshops, communication consulting and writing services
Writers measure copy in words, inches or pages. Readers use a different measure: time.
So instead of using writer-centric measures, think like your reader.… Read the full article
When was the last time you found yourself text messaging while checking email, watching TV and talking on the phone?… Read the full article
It’s the communicator’s biggest problem: How do you get audience members to pay attention to, understand and remember your messages when they’re burdened with so much information?… Read the full article
Talk about TMI: Your readers receive the data equivalent of 174 newspapers a day[1] — ads included.… Read the full article
There’s nothing like noun phrases to make a tight sentence long, to transform clear, conversational language into stuffy bureaucratese:
What do you notice about this passage, excerpted from an article in The Economist?… Read the full article
This just in, writes one of my favorite correspondents, sharing a sentence his subject matter expert has written:
Somebody just kill me now, my friend writes.… Read the full article
More than 80 years of readability research demonstrate that short words are easiest to read and understand.… Read the full article
Pulitzer Prize-winning humorist Dave Barry spent eight years teaching businesspeople how to write better. As he told Time magazine:
An editor once counseled me to change all the instances of employment in an article to jobs.
Great advice.… Read the full article
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